The Sanity Discontinuation
by Foxie5221
Summary: After stepping over the threshold of sane one too many times, Sheldon is admitted to a mental hospital causing Penny and the gang to race to get him out. Shenny
1. Chapter1

It was most very definitely a code-wow. It was crazy that- no, not crazy, bonkers. Bonkers was a safe word used to describe children running round with their pants on their head. Not a psychological diagnosis, a permanent, life altering psychological diagnosis. It was bonkers that Sheldon had created a procedure for every possible (and impossible) situation but had never considered this. It was ironic as well because he was so often called…it.

He'd come home earlier that evening. It seemed like a lifetime ago. He'd been attending a physics gathering at the university that Sheldon had been banned from by Gablehauser. He'd walked into the apartment and called out "Sheldon I'm home." He remembered the silence that followed. It was Thai food night. His roommate should have been sitting in his spot. But he wasn't. That was exceptionally unusual, but not impossible. He'd got a big Lego set a couple of days ago and was probably sitting on his bed playing. He walked into his room and stopped.

Every wall was covered in marker. Equations were scrawled across the entire room. Leonard stood staring at it. The room was ruined, it looked like the aftermath of an apocalypse. Then his phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hello is this Dr Hofstader?"

"Yes."

"We are holding your roommate at Pasadena City…" Leonard had already hung up and was pulling his coat back on. He ran into Penny on the stairs- literally.

"Yikes, where's the fire? Or the monster Sheldon created?"

"Sheldon's at the police station."

"Why, did someone drop him off in a basket?"

"I don't know, you coming?"

"Sure."

"I'm sorry we don't have anyone called Sheldon in our custody. I can check the national database for you though."

"Thanks." They went to sit down on the two small plastic chairs.

"I'm confused. Sheldon annoys the hell out of you. Why are you trying so hard to find him? He's only been out for about 3 hours. He probably just stayed at the university late."

"His room was covered in equations, they were all over the walls, the ceiling, even the floor - I'd never seen anything like it. Here I took a photo,"

"Oh my god." The man at the desk motioned them over.

"I'm afraid I can't find him on the police database."

"Is there anything else you can do?"

"Well I could check the entire public services system. It's usually a long shot but Sheldon's a pretty unusual name."

"Thank you so much." They went back to the chairs. 10 minutes later they were called up again.

"I think I might have found your friend. Someone called Sheldon Cooper was checked into Pasadena City Mental Hospital 2 hours ago."

"Oh my god!"

Later Leonard would wonder if it would have been different if he'd stayed on the phone.


	2. Chapter 2

"What on earth could he have done this time?"

"Heaven knows." Leonard was roaring through the streets, with no regard for the limit or other vehicles. This was unforeseen for him, Penny had never once seen him drive above 30 in the city.

"He's cracked before like this right? Remember with the fish, the ball pit and the bongos…" Penny trailed off.

"Yeah but. You saw what he did to his room. That place is sacred to him. He'd never damage it unless he'd truly… you know."

"Lost his mind?"

"I'm sure he's fine."

"Tell that to your foot, your almost 15 over the limit."

"Sorry."

——

"Um excuse me?" An astonishingly grumpy looking receptionist turned her head to Penny and Leonard as though it cost her the last of her strength.

"What?"

"Um, our friend was checked in here just over two hours ago. His name is Sheldon Cooper?"

"He's here."

"Can we see him?"

"Visiting hours are between 1 and 4 in the afternoon however as this is the first day family are permitted to visit him." She was droning as though she had been reciting the same words all day.

"Well we're not exactly family but Leonard's his roommate and I'm their neighbour."

"Family only."

"His nearest family live in Texas. Isn't there any way we can see him?"

"Fine. And you'll need to sign some of the paperwork."

They followed her along a maze of white corridors. It struck Penny how warm and friendly Sheldon would seem, decked out in his usual colourful attire, compared to this stark world. But he didn't.

He was lying in bed. Comatose. His skin seemed grey bathed in the hospital lights. Stripped of his bright superhero clothing, it struck Penny that this was probably the first time she'd ever seen Sheldon looking normal. He was in a hospital gown, the same white as the sheets, walls and nurse's uniform. "Is he…?" She trailed off, unable to complete the terrible sentence.

"The patient is asleep. He was delirious and very worked up when he was admitted so he has been given a sedative. One of you will need to fill out these forms." She gestured to the mountain of paper in her arms.

"You should go." Penny managed to whisper. "You know him best."

"Ok"

——

The grumpy receptionist and Leonard left the room. Feeling for some reason like she was doing something wrong, Penny walked as quietly as she could to the bed. On either side were low metal railings, presumably so there was no chance of the occupant falling on the floor. In almost all of their conversations, talkative, particular Sheldon was the one to start, usually so the topic area was to his interest. It felt odd to be the first to speak. "Hey Sheldon." The only movement was the rise and fall of his chest, his unconscious breaths almost silent. "How'd you end up here?" He was a statue of cold stone. She reached out her trembling hand and placed it on his. Usually he would instantly flinch and pull it away but he didn't show even the slightest trace of movement. His hand was smooth, having never been used for anything more strenuous than writing on a board. She needed touch something soft, something alive. The gown was texture less, flat, sterilised hospital cotton, washed to within an inch of its life. So her hand reached for his hair and gently stroked it. Sheldon was as meticulous with his hair as he was with every other aspect of his life; it was thick and silky, sliding through Penny's fingers. It seemed to Penny that these dead cells were the most alive thing about him.

The door burst open and Leonard was slightly frogmarched into the room. "Time to say goodbye now, visiting is between one and four. The exit is clearly marked."

"Oh, ok." Penny was startled at the nurse's brusqueness. "Bye sweetie, we promise we'll see you tomorrow."

"Off you go now, he's in good hands."

"So, what crazy thing has he done now?"

"I must admit it really took the biscuit."

"So…"

"You know the roadworks on Woodbury Road?"

"Yeah."

"At around five in the afternoon, when all the workers were on break, he began re-arranging all the traffic cones in the middle of the street."

"That's not so crazy. He's done much worse hasn't he?"

"Apparently it caused two accidents and, although no one was hurt, he's been declared a danger to public safety. He's got to stay at the hospital until he's believed mentally fit or ,if he's given a terminal diagnosis, a suitable home can be found." Leonard was reading from one of the forms.

"A suitable home! They're making him sound like a dog! Anyway, he's got a home, and he doesn't even live on his own!"

"Not that sort."

"What do you mean?" Penny narrowed her eyes at Leonard.

"You know how when people get too old to look after themselves they live in a home." Penny's eyebrows shot up and her mouth gaped.

"A mental person home? But he's not crazy!" Suddenly something dawned on her. A phrase she had heard so often in the last 5 years. "He's not crazy, his mother's had him tested. That's a formal diagnosis. Surely that's on his medical files somewhere."

"Apparently, an assessment will be conducted when he wakes up. If they don't think he is sane, he stays there. His mother had him tested when he was nine, the results are no longer valid if he comes out as…" He trailed off miserably.

"Poor thing." Penny whispered. "He, he was so still Leonard, he didn't flinch when I touched him, it was like he was dead."

"He was asleep, he'll be normal when we visit him tomorrow."

"Ok." The rest of the journey was silent.


	3. Chapter 3

The next day, Penny was knocking on the door of 4A at exactly twelve o'clock. "Hi Penny, come on in."

"What, why aren't you ready yet?"

"Visiting hours isn't till one and it only takes 40 minutes to get to the hospital."

"What if there's traffic, and there's the roadworks on Woodbury Road."

"I haven't even had lunch yet."

"Then start eating!" She cried, propelling a helpless Leonard to the sofa and then rummaging slightly manically through the fridge. "Here, eat this," she chucked an entire loaf of bread at him, "and this," a packet of cheddar landed in his lap. "There you go, a cheese sandwich." She declared in a voice that brokered no argument. Leonard tried anyway.

"I can't eat this I'm lactose intolerant."

"Then don't eat the cheese." Leonard peered doubtfully down at his appetising lunch of some white bread; the woman was acting like a dog who wanted a walk or in other words, Sheldon when they were late for anything. Maybe it would be best if he just got something from a coffee shop near the hospital. Not a single part of him doubted that they would be staying the whole three hours.

Much to Penny's intense relief, Sheldon was up. She had spent the entire journey dreading that he would be in that same, still, silent sleep but when she walked into the room, he was sitting up in bed.

"Sheldon!" She ran over to him and grabbed his hand. He didn't flinch. "Sheldon?" She said again, quieter, "Are,are you ok?"

He blinked at her with huge blue eyes.

"Sheldon?" He repeated uncertainly.

"Oh my god baby are you…". Oops. How had she let that one slip out. Her name for him that she kept only in her head. Emasculating him was one of the guys', especially Howard's, favourite hobbies, so she tried not to call him anything that she wouldn't call Leonard. She glanced round guiltily. Luckily for her, Leonard was talking to the nurse and hadn't heard anything. She realised her hand was still resting on Sheldon's and instinctively she snatched it away. He looked up at the movement. Suddenly she felt a desperate longing to hear his self assured, superior tone, not that shy whisper. Leonard came over.

"Is he ok?"

"I don't know, he seems really confused. I guess this must be quite strange for him."

"Did he seem different?" Yes! She wanted to yell. Of course he did, his bed's creaking and he hasn't said a thing, it is most definitely colder than 72 degrees in that room and he isn't wearing his Tuesday outfit. A truly horrific thought occurred to her, what if he wasn't him anymore? She needed to hear an emotionless lecture.

"Ask him something sciency."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. Anything."

"Um, what's the cold fusion of molybdenum?"

"Molyb, molub?" He repeated, sounding like a toddler trying to say mama for the first time.

The grumpy receptionist bustled in. "I've got some more forms for you."

"What?" Leonard protested "but I already signed about twelve yesterday."

"Now we have the patient's diagnosis, treatment will need to be considered."

"Treatment." Penny said. "But he's just being…" But he wasn't. He wasn't being normal. He was acting like he really had lost his mind. Maybe this time he really did need help. Maybe he'd needed it all along.

A wet sensation on her leg alerted her to the bag she'd forgotten she was carrying. "We bought you a burger." He reached for it but seemed unable to grip. Heart close to breaking, she lowered it into his lap. He picked it up. Without a fork, or a napkin.

"Thank you." He said slowly. Penny couldn't remember a time he had ever thanked her, even when she had literally waited on him.

Leonard came back in. "We need to go now apparently." Penny glanced at her watch in shock; it was already five to four. Then she remembered where Leonard had gone. The diagnosis.


	4. Chapter 4

Well." She said the moment they got in the car.

"It doesn't look good. He's been diagnosed as being, well, crazy."

Penny was speechless.

"He is now officially classed as insane and unfit to live unsupervised. The hospital said they're willing to have a crack at treating him but it would likely take at least a year."

"A year?"

"We both saw him Penny. He looked like he'd truly lost it. I reckon this is the best for him to help him get back on his rocker and, maybe they'll even prevent him falling off again."

"What do you mean?"

"Everyone thinks he's mad when they first meet him. Didn't you call him a whack-a-doodle just last week? The hospital think they might be able to not only help him get back to how he used to be but also make him more… socially adept."

"They would alter his mind?"

"No, of course not."

"Then how would they do it?"

"I don't know the details."

"The details! This is his entire life!" She yelled. They both scowled at each other and Leonard turned on the radio. Naturally the most helpful song in the world was playing.

"What the hell is wrong with expressing yourself, being who you want to be. The world's grey enough without making it worse we need individuality. So what the hell is wrong with expressing yourself, what we need is individuality…"

——

Everyday that week, without fail, Penny arrived at the hospital at 12:55, endured the hostile looks from the surly receptionist for five minutes, spent three heartbreaking hours by Sheldon's bed and was then chased out at 3:55. Leonard was unable to come with her as the university had only granted him two days off, but Penny was able to simply do the dinner shift instead so she was able to visit him everyday.

It was exactly a week since he'd been admitted and she, Leonard, Howard and Bernadette were driving to the hospital. The Wolowitzs had been on a desert spa retreat for the last few days, so this was their first time visiting Sheldon. Bernadette had bought him some homemade muffins- banana, a taste Penny knew he despised but also knew he would accept with the same placid expression and cautious gratitude he gave her when she bought him meals.

When they walked into the room he didn't look up. Penny was used to this by now. Sometimes the movement would catch his eye and sometimes he wouldn't register her till she touched him. Today it was the clack of Bernadette's heels that informed him of their presence. He looked around himself vaguely until he found the source of the noise. Almost to Penny's relief, he seemed startled by these two new people. It kind of gave her a nice feeling. Even though she'd been with him all last week she'd never been quite sure if he remembered her or if he was just going with the motions but now he looked up at her for reassurance with slightly petrified looking azure eyes.

"Hey Sheldon, Howard and Bernadette came to see you." He studied them unspeakingly.

"How're you doing Sheldon?" Bernadette asked gently. No response. "I bought you some homemade muffins." She placed them on the small steel table beside the bed.

"Thank you." he said hesitantly. Bernadette and Howard shot shocked glances at Penny who nodded grimly. He'd lost interest now and was peering curiously at his hands, fluttering them like he'd never noticed them before in his life. He was being exceptionally distant today and Penny was glad of Bernadette's company. At some point Howard suggested they broke into the muffins.

"You want one hey buddy?" Leonard wheedled as he tried to entice Sheldonto take a bite. Sheldon's hands waved uncertainly over the muffins but he made no attempt to pick one up. When the visit was up they all walked out of the room morosely.

"Oh, guys I've forgotten my bag," Penny said "I'll meet you outside." She walked back into the room and tore a piece off one of the muffins. "Here you go." She brushed the cake against Sheldon's lips until he opened his mouth, which he did so very cautiously. Carefully, she posted the piece into his mouth. He chewed slowly. She repeated the process until she'd gotten him to eat the entire muffin. Crumbs adorned his lips and he didn't seem to realise he could lick them off so she fished a tissue out her bag and swept them off his lips. Feeling the sensation he opened his mouth. Penny was shocked; she appeared to have accidentally trained him. For the first time she considered the power the staff had over him. "Bye sweetie. I'll see you tomorrow." She grabbed her deliberately forgotten bag and slipped out the room.


	5. Chapter 5

In the car, the main topic was the state of Sheldon. "He didn't seem to know us." Bernadette whispered.

"I know." Howard agreed "and did you see that weird fluttering thing he was doing with his hands?"

"Oh my god!" Leonard cried.

"What ,what is it?" Penny asked in alarm.

"Howard remember when you drugged him with Valium?"

"You did what?" Penny yelled.

"He wouldn't go to sleep." Leonard explained.

"That's not a reason to drug your best friend with Valium! In fact there is no reason to drug your best friend with Valium. Hang on, you think the hospital's drugged him?"

"He did exactly the same thing with his hands when we…you know."

"Is there any way we can check? I mean we're accusing them of a pretty big thing."

"I know." Bernadette declared. "You can check his nightstand and see if there's any medicine kept under there. If you could take some I could analyse it in the lab and see if it contains any Valium."

"I'll look when I go in tomorrow." Penny was filled with desperate hope. Maybe Sheldon hadn't lost his mind; he'd just been drugged out of it.

——

She was at the hospital exactly like she always was the next afternoon. "Hey there, how you feeling sweetie?" He had been more attentive than usual, noticing her the moment she walked in and following her with his cobalt eyes. That said, his hands were flapping about like they had a mind of their own. Although his mind probably didn't have any control over them. Seeing his helplessly flailing limbs she remembered the task she had been assigned. "Do you know where the tablets they give you are honey?"

"Are?" Great, of all the words to focus on. Evidently his apparent focus was a coincidence. His hands were still waving in every direction so she grabbed his wrists, pinned them as gently as possible to the bed and began stroking the palms of his hands.

It was a technique she'd learned after she'd begged her mum to let her sleep with her new puppy. The little animal had obviously had some sort of chasing dream and was bashing her with his paws every five minutes. After two hours she'd finally discovered that if she stroked the soft, pink, pads he stopped wriggling. She didn't have the faintest clue why it worked but it worked on Sheldon too. Trying to exude rays of calm, she softly caressed his smooth, inside hands. But they weren't. They were rough and flaky, almost as chapped as hers. She noticed an absence of something else as well. You might expect that a person so obsessed with being clean would have a harsh chemical smell but said person had the pain threshold of a toddler and after the great soap in eye disaster always used hygiene products that could be used on someone under five. But the innocent scent of baby shampoo was gone, he now smelled like carbolic and efficiency. Desperate for some part of him to be the same, she ran a hand through his hair and drew it away in shock. It felt coarse and rough. This was so wrong, his locks were even silkier than hers. Throughout all of this physical contact he hadn't drawn away once. He was right; change is never fine, they say it is, but it's not.

But there was still a way to get him back. It was obvious he wouldn't be able to tell her where his tablets were, he didn't even seem to know what the word meant. However, he was a creature of habit and it had occurred to her while she was lamenting his lost self that there must be a certain trigger that would cause him to inadvertently betray the location of the tablets. And now she was pretty sure she'd found it. She'd noticed a metal trolley out in the corridor that always seemed to appear about half an hour before the end of her visit. Praying to whatever god was responsible for crazy people, she wheeled it into the room. Much to her abject delight, it was incredibly squeaky, alerting Sheldon to its arrival by both sight and sound. As she pushed it towards his bed, he looked over her left shoulder. She followed his line of sight and noticed a small cabinet, bolted to the wall, painted the same white that characterised the room. She'd never noticed it before but Sheldon was looking at it expectantly. Walked over to it, she found much to her intense surprise that it was not locked. She inched it open, checking over her shoulder the entire time.

In the cabinet was a single, white bottle. A label was on the side with reading "Sheldon Cooper, Administer 5 tablets twice daily". Holy crap on a cracker, that was a high dosage. She grabbed one of the large white tablets and popped it into her pocket. Just in time as the nurse stomped in to "escort" her from the room. Feeling like someone on a police detective show, Penny got into her car and drove as fast as possible to Zangen. Bernadette was in a conference when she arrived, so she left the tablet in a plastic bag on her desk with a note.


	6. Chapter 6

The phone woke Penny at three o'clock the next morning. Groggily she rolled over and lifted the receiver to her ear like a dumbbell.

"I've got the results."

"What?"

"I've got the results." Bernadette repeated.

"Wait are you pregnant?"

"What, no! It's the results for…"

"Listen Bernie I'm very happy for you but did you really have to tell me at three in the morning? Wait? That's not it?"

"No, Penny, I just called to tell you the results are positive."

"So you are pregnant?"

"No, why don't I call you back when you're a little less asleep."

"Seriously Bernie I'm really happy for you, have you thought of names?" Bernadette hung up.

Penny awoke the next morning at seven, feeling like something important was happening. She rolled over and noticed a note on her bedside table. "Call B re S v?" She leapt out of bed and ran into the kitchen, grabbed the phone and typed in Bernadette's number faster than the keypad could register it. "Bernie, do you have the results?

"It's too early, I've been up all night."

"Tell me!"

"Hang on." Penny heard footsteps then a muffled splash.

"What was that?"

"I just tipped a glass of water over myself because unlike you I think that being awake is a requirement of phone conversations."

"What?"

"You have no idea what you said last night do you?"

"Tell me the results Bernie!"

"Ok. I analysed the tablets in the lab and Leonard was right, they do contain Valium."

"Oh my god. They're, that's, we need to get him out of there."

"How though? California, and for all we know federal, law prohibits him from leaving. We can't exactly just walk him out."

"Well, I don't know yet but three of us have doctorates so we have to come up with something.

—

"Something" was a meeting in 4A.

"Ok guys here's what we know. Sheldon is being tranquilised using Valium at the hospital. We need to get him out. Comments?"

"How are we going to get him out?"

"I said comments Leonard, not questions."

"We can't get him out."

"That's not the attitude."

"He's right though, even if we could somehow smuggle Sheldon past the staff, he'd be in such a daze it would take at least half an hour for him to walk down one corridor."

"We need solutions not problems Howard."

"Who says he'd have to walk?" Everyone turned to Leonard who flexed his arms.

"Who'd you think carries Sheldon to bed when he falls asleep in front of the tv?" Penny raised incredulous eyebrows. "Well, he's so knocked out maybe that would work." She conceded "But we'd still need to get him past front desk." Raj emitted a small squeak. "One sip." She instructed. She had not wanted him drunk while they were devising the rescue plan, but had given him a beer which he was only allowed to drink when he had a good idea.

"Fire exit." They stared at him in confusion, then Bernadette gasped.

"That's brilliant Raj!"

"What?" Penny had no idea what either of them were going on about.

"There must be a fire exit on his floor, we could go down it and sneak out the back, no one would see us go."

"That's perfect! Raj, you're coming with me tomorrow aren't you, so you can look for an exit." He nodded. They had a plan.


	7. Chapter 7

Sheldon was staring straight ahead when she came to visit him. He didn't seem to notice her even when she stood right by his bed. For once, his arms were still, which made the task she'd assigned herself much easier. He was obviously tired somehow, his sapphire eyes were half-shut and he kept on starting awake. "Don't worry sweetie" she whispered as she dug her strawberry hand cream out of her bag, "we're getting you out of here." She took his hands in hers and gently rubbed them all over with her lotion. As usual, he made no objection. When she was done she held them up to his face so he could smell them. His porcelain face crinkled into a tentative smile.

"Good" he said softly.

"I'm glad you like it, I can give you some everyday if you want." He carried on staring at her like he was still waiting for a response.

—

"Well?"

"I found one pretty lady." Why oh why did it have to be alcohol that enabled Raj to talk to her? Why couldn't it have been something less annoying, like a severe electric shock. But he had the knowledge required to bust Sheldon out of there, so she suppressed her irritation, grit her teeth and beared it.

"How close is it to his room?"

"It's right at the end of the corridor." That wasn't good. That corridor was at least triple the length of 4A. There was no way Leonard would be able to carry him. But she was the 1987 Omaha junior rodeo champion and she doubted he could weigh more than a yearling steer; he might be tall but he had the physique of a praying mantis.

—

"So guys, we've found where we can get him out. But we're going to have to face the music when they realise he's gone."

"This is going to be a huge legal undertaking," Bernadette stated "we're going to need a lawyer."

"What about Priya?" Howard ventured.

"That's a really good idea. Raj could you call her and ask if she'll help us?" He nodded, alcohol forbidden after the "pretty lady" incident.

"Cool." Howard said "Once we've got Priya on board we can sue the hospital then rescue Sheldon."

"Rearrange that sentence."

"What?"

"We are not going to wait for a court case to get him out of there. They are drugging him with illegally high quantities of tranquillisers, we are going to get him out now!"

"But Penny that would be against the law." Leonard pleaded.

"I thought Sheldon was the one who struggled with irony."

"Innocent till proven guilty remember."

"We have proof, they're guilty."

"Penny, Raj wants to put Priya on Skype so he needs a beer."

"One sip" she warned.

"Hey guys, what's up?"

"We need your help with a case Priya." They explained the fortnight's events to the lawyer.

"Wow, that is a serious charge. You're going to be in the court for a long time. Sheldon might as well book a hotel by the magistrate's office as he is going to be there almost everyday."

"Let me stop you there. Sheldon is going to have no part in this."

"He's the accuser Penny, he's going to have to give a statement and list charges and every other thing besides."

"No he's not. He's not going to step one foot in that courtroom, in fact he's not going to know we are doing this at all."

"They'll need witness accounts." Priya attempted.

"Are we not all witnesses?" Penny gestured around the room, "All of us have seen him in that white bed with the metal railings in his white hospital gown."

"Hang on." Leonard said "If he's officially insane, which he will be until the case is finished, surely he can't give a statement under California state law."

"You're right." Priya conceded "But it would make things easier if he could tell us of his experiences in the hospital."

"So it'll be harder but not impossible."

"I suppose."

"So you don't need him."

"No, I suppose not." Penny could not help grinning maniacally at her victory against the lawyer.


	8. Chapter 8

Today was the day. The day of Operation Emancipation. It was Howard's name and she'd had to look it up but now she knew what it meant she thought it sounded perfect. She and Leonard arrived at the hospital at the usual time. Once they were let in his room, Leonard stood watch by the door while Penny approached the bed as stealthily as possible. "Hey Sheldon," she crooned as she bent over the bed. Much to her relief he didn't respond. So she reached into the bed and scooped him up. He unleashed a wild shriek threw his arms around her middle in terror, pinning them to her sides, rendering her almost unable to move. She attempted to unpeel them and place them in his lap but it was like getting sellotape of your finger; every time you got it off one finger it stuck to the other one. She shifted her weight to try and get him in a more comfortable position and he went berserk, waving his long arms and legs like windmills. Penny glanced doubtfully at the narrow doorway- this would be like trying to get a cat into a cardboard box. Suddenly he quietened and she lurched through the door.

"Go, go,go!" Leonard urged her and the two of them set of down the corridor. Sheldon had resumed his flailing and managed to hit Penny in the face several times during their flight down the corridor. He also managed to kick Leonard in the crotch with his thrashing legs, which would have been hysterical if they hadn't been trying to get down a fire escape.

Finally they got to the car, which they had parked next to the bins. It took both of them to stuff him in the car, in the front seat so both of them could watch him constantly, but also because it would have been just weird for Sheldon to be in the back of a car. Much to their surprise, he calmed down the moment he was in the vehicle. It occurred to Penny that Leonard usually lifted him up when he was unconscious, so the hysterics might have been due to the fact that he hadn't enjoyed the sensation very much. He passively let them put the seatbelt on him and made no protest when Leonard started the car and pulled out of the car park. The fanciful part of Penny wanted to believe that his complacency was because he knew he was being rescued but the realistic part knew he was so knocked out he probably wouldn't have made much protest if they'd come in and held him at gunpoint instead.

—

The drive home was uneventful and by the time they got to 2311 they felt more confident. This was going to be the tricky bit though. Sheldon had been so vociferous when she picked him up, his frenzied squawks would disturb the entire building and almost certainly draw out concerned neighbours. The "getting up the stairs" portion of Operation Emancipation had been entirely predicated on him laying peaceably in her arms. They would need a new strategy.

"Could we drag him?" Leonard suggested.

"He's not a sack of potatoes."

"Well we can't carry him. I'd be rendered infertile by the second floor." Suddenly a thought appeared to Penny that was so obvious she was truly astonished that she hadn't thought of it before.

"Maybe he can walk?"

He couldn't. Confined to the hospital bed for nearly two weeks, his legs shook like jelly after they'd manhandled him out of the car and placed him on the pavement. With sudden horror, Penny realised the indignities that must have been forced on him, especially in the bathroom department. After some experimentation, they managed to balance him between their shoulders, with Penny supporting the small of his back with her hand so he didn't topple backwards. It was slow progress but eventually they reached the door of 4A. Sheldon seemed to have recovered enough strength to stand by himself. They let him in, expecting him to do exactly what he did every time he went away- reacquaint himself with his spot. But he didn't. He walked past the sofa in a stumbling walk, Penny following anxiously behind in case he fell and steering him up the small step. He wobbled along to his bedroom and collapsed on the bed. Reasoning that the trip up the stairs was the most activity he'd down for nearly a fortnight, she left him to rest.


	9. Chapter 9

For five minutes, after which she couldn't bear to not know if he was ok. He wasn't. He was curled up in a foetal position on the bed, clutching a pillow and howling. His lean frame was wracked by the shuddering sobs that were coursing through his body. She sat down one the bed and stroked his side unspeakingly. They stayed this way for an entire hour until finally he could produce no more tears and entered the snivelling stage. She pulled him onto her lap and smoothed his hair while making soft hushing noises with her mouth. He snuffled into her chest, covering her top with snot, his breathing ragged. She drew him in tighter and his long arms snaked around her middle. Rocking to and fro, she continued her silent comfort until finally the sniffing subsided and his breathing evened out. "It's ok." She whispered softly "it's ok. You're home now sweetie, it's ok." Then she began to sing his lullaby and watched fondly as he drifted off to sleep.

Finally his head emerged and she smiled. "Ok, you're going to have to get off now because my legs have gone to sleep. Do you want some tea?" He didn't seem to register her request but got up unsteadily when she pulled him up. Holding his hand, she guided out of the room, down the lethal step and to his spot. He sat down and she turned on Doctor Who then boiled the kettle. Leonard came in a couple of minutes later with soup and they held a whispered conference in the little kitchen.

"The hospital will have realised he's gone exactly two minutes ago. I reckon it'll be on the news by five."

"We'd better get him away from the tv then." She realised

"Put on one of the star trek dvds."

Sheldon ate dinner at 7 o'clock. It was soup day, which presented numerous issues. Still heavily under the effects of the drugs, he was struggling to grip the spoon and, foreseeing disaster, Penny got him a straw. But straws, they soon discovered, also required a degree of fine motor skills and about eight sips in, he managed to upend the entire bowl in his lap. He was a pitiful sight, sitting in that awful white gown covered in pea soup, he'd even got in his hair somehow. Leonard dealt with the sofa while Penny took him to the bathroom.

**This bit could be said to be a bit explicit although it's meant to be like mother and child, not the other thing it could be perceived as. This is just me being a bit paranoid.**

—

He stood there dumbly while she stripped off his gown, trembling with cold and exhaustion. She hesitated at his pants then decided he could shower with them on. She turned on the water and guided him into the tub. Immediately, his legs flew out from underneath him and she had to lunge forward to break his fall; clearly the adhesive ducks would not be sufficient. Her top was still quite sticky from earlier and she reasoned she could do with a wash so she stepped in to join him fully clothed. She washed him quickly, conscious he wasn't used to standing up for too long then assessed his hair. It was full of gunk and would take ages to wash out and his legs were starting to shake. But the shower was also a bath and there was easily enough room for them to both sit. Gently, she eased him down till they were both sitting cross legged in the bath. Squeezing most of their Darth Vader shampoo on his head, she began the painstaking process of removing the soup from his hair. It took three washes to get it out of his thick locks during which time he began to take notice of her. Halfway through wash two, he suddenly regained his hatred of human contact and whirled round in indignation. "Penny stop touching my hair!" She gave a delighted squeal and threw her arms around his waist ecstatically. "Penny stop it." He warned. She withdrew her arms and carried on trying to de-pea his hair. "I demand that you cease…"

"Ok sweetie, you can do it but if you don't get it all out it'll dry into your hair and it'll be almost impossible to get out, like the gum." He shot her a hard glare but grudgingly settled down into her again. When she'd finished, she hopped out of the tub to grab him a towel which he snatched off her in defiance. He looked so alive now, pink from the heat of the shower. He was tucked up in bed, wearing his checked pajamas by nine and fell asleep the moment she began soft kitty.

Over the week he gradually regained his awareness. A definite turning point was when Penny asked him to close the curtains and ten minutes later could have written an essay on the use of curtains in medieval England if she'd known how to spell medieval.


	10. Epilogue

But six months later they realised quite how deeply the experience had affected him. He'd fainted at Caltech and the nurse had recommended a blood test so they took him to the hospital five minutes from Los Robles. He was entirely normal in the car, criticising Penny's driving, engine maintenance and coffee intake. They walked in and actually got to the reception before they realised he was no longer with them. Retracing their steps, they finally found him standing before the entrance. His entire body was trembling, his eyes were wide and he was hyperventilating. He seemed to be stuck to the spot. "No." He whispered in obvious terror "no."

Penny walked over to him and wordlessly took his hand. "It's ok," she said softly, "it's ok. I promised you were never going back there and I meant it. In fact you can't it no longer exists." She squeezed his hand and watched him take a deep breath. "Ready?" He gulped and stared straight ahead. They began to walk forwards together, hand in hand.

**So that's my first story on FanFiction finished. I don't have anymore written for this particular show at the moment but if anyone has any requests I'd love to write them. Thank you for the support on this first story. :)**


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